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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to speak at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law on Sept. 14

Kagan to visit as Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar

  • Visit will include a moderated discussion at noon with Dean Hari M. Osofsky and the dedication of Chicago Avenue and the Law School courtyard in honor of the late Justice John Paul Stevens, JD ’47 at 4 p.m.
  • Media must RSVP to media relations to cover discussion and/or dedication
  • Upon arrival, media members must present a photo ID or press pass
  • Inquire with media relations to receive the registration link to watch virtually

CHICAGO — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan will visit Northwestern Pritzker School of Law as the Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and participate in a moderated discussion with Law School Dean Hari M. Osofsky.

Kagan, who last visited the Law School in 2015, will also participate in the dedication of Chicago Avenue outside the Law School as Justice John Paul Stevens Way and the Law School courtyard as Justice John Paul Stevens Courtyard. Stevens graduated magna cum laude from the Law School in 1947 and served as co-editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University Law Review.

Media planning to cover the discussion and/or dedication must RSVP to Max Witynski via phone at 847-467-6105 or email at max.witynski@northwestern.edu by noon, Monday, Sept. 12. Limited media seats are available. See additional media guidelines below.

Kagan’s moderated discussion with Dean Osofsky will take place from noon to 1 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday, Sept. 14 in the Law School’s Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago Ave. The Chicago Ave. and courtyard dedication will follow from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Law School’s courtyard.

Media guidelines:

  • Media covering the discussion should arrive by 11:30 a.m. and check in at the media table outside of Thorne Auditorium before being directed to the designated media section. Media must present press pass or photo ID upon arrival.
  • Media covering the courtyard dedication will need to re-sign in before entering the courtyard, even if they previously covered the discussion.
  • Media must stay in designated media areas, with brief exceptions for still photographers.
  • Still photographers may go down to the stage with an escort for close-ups of Kagan for two minutes at the beginning of the discussion and again for two minutes at the end. During the dedication, they must remain in the designated media area.
  • Video cameras must operate from a fixed position in the designated media area.
  • Inquire with media relations to receive the registration link to watch virtually.

The Howard J. Trienens Visiting Scholar Program enables Northwestern Pritzker Law to invite a leading jurist to the school to lecture and provide students and faculty with a perspective on the judicial process and contemporary legal issues.

Kagan received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1981, an M. Phil. from Oxford University in 1983 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1986.

She clerked for Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1986 to 1987 and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1987 term. After briefly practicing law at a Washington, D.C., law firm, she became a law professor, first at the University of Chicago Law School and later at Harvard Law School. She also served for four years in the Clinton Administration as associate counsel to the president and then as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy.

Between 2003 and 2009, she served as the dean of Harvard Law School. In 2009, President Obama nominated her as the solicitor general of the United States, and a year later, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. She took her seat Aug. 7, 2010.

Past Howard J. Trienens speakers include Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.; Justice Sonia Sotomayor; the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist; late Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens, J.D. ’47; and retired Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Sandra Day O’Connor.

This year, Northwestern Pritzker Law is paying special tribute to Stevens, one of its most distinguished alumni, in honoring him with the dedication of Chicago Avenue and the Law School courtyard.

The Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar Program was established at Northwestern Pritzker Law in 1989 by partners of Sidley Austin to honor Howard Trienens’ service to the firm and Northwestern. Trienens, who passed away last year at 97, had been a partner at Sidley Austin since 1956 and a longtime member of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees, serving as chairman from 1986 to 1995.

To learn more about the Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar Program, go to http://www.law.northwestern.edu/law-school-life/events/public-lectures/trienens/.